Parliament Question: Impact of Digital India Initiatives

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1681 TO BE ANSWERED ON: 29.07.2026 IMPACT OF DIGITAL INDIA INITIATIVES 1681. SHRI LAVU SRI KRISHNA DEVARAYALU: Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state: (a) the details of major Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) services implemented under the Digital India programme since 2021 along with the number of citizens availing these services, State/UT-wise; (b) the details of beneficiaries and digital transactions recorded under major DPI platforms in Andhra Pradesh, district-wise including Palnadu district; (c) whether the Government has undertaken any assessment regarding the impact of Digital India initiatives on improving access to public services and digital inclusion particularly in rural areas and if so, the details thereof; and (d) the steps being taken by the Government to bridge the digital divide and strengthen digital infrastructure and citizen awareness in rural districts of Andhra Pradesh including Palnadu? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA) (a) to (d): In line with the Hon'ble Prime Minister's vision to democratise use of technology, the Government has promoted Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) across India, including Andhra Pradesh. Under the Digital India programme, the Government has adopted the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) approach to enable delivery of digital services at population scale through open, interoperable and scalable platforms. Key DPI initiatives: Government has successfully implemented foundational digital public infrastructure (DPI) at population scale for identity (Aadhaar), for payment (UPI), for data exchange (DigiLocker and API Setu), etc. DPI has been a transformative force in India's socio-economic development, significantly enhancing financial inclusion, digital inclusion, governance and economic growth. To promote linguistic inclusion in digital services, the Government has launched the National Language Translation Mission (NLTM) – BHASHINI, envisaged as a public digital platform for Indian language technologies. The Bhashini platform addresses communication barriers for India’s diverse population. This fosters greater access to digital tools for underserved communities. Digital India initiatives are accessible through mobile platforms, which has played a significant role in bridging the urban–rural divide. Expanding DPI in rural areas has been akey priority for Government of India to improve financial inclusion, digital inclusion and ensure access to essential government services for all the strata of society. These initiatives enable citizens to access a wide range of government services such as digital payments, digital education, digital health, e-Courts etc. anytime and from anywhere. Assisted service delivery through Common Service Centres (CSCs) and other facilitation channels, ensuring last-mile service delivery to rural and vulnerable populations. ● The status of some of the key Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and digital platforms that have been instrumental in ensuring inclusive and equitable access to Government services, particularly for the rural population, women, and other sections of society, is as under: ● Aadhaar: Aadhaar is the world’s largest digital identity programme that provides biometric and demographic-based unique digital identity. 144+ crore Aadhaar IDs have been generated so far. Various public welfare and good governance initiatives utilise Aadhaar authentication for beneficiary identification across sectors such as healthcare, education, agriculture and banking. State-wise details of enrolments are available at https://uidai.gov.in/aadhaar_dashboard/. ● Unified Payments Interface (UPI): UPI has empowered millions of individuals and small businesses in rural and remote areas to make fast, secure and low-cost digital payments, significantly advancing financial inclusion. UPI serves more than 55.49 crore individuals, 6.5 crore merchants, and connects 731 banks on one platform, making it the world’s largest digital payment system. UPI powers 85% of India’s digital payments and nearly 50% of global real-time digital payments. State/UT-wise UPI statics are available at https://www.npci.org.in/product/ecosystem-statistics/upi. ● DigiLocker: DigiLocker provides citizens with anytime access to authentic digital documents issued by original issuers. The platform has over 71.66 crore registered users, with more than 936.03 crore documents issued by 2,822 onboarded issuers. State/UT wise DigiLocker users (Aadhaar enabled registrations) is enclosed at annexure. ● Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance (UMANG), one mobile application for all government services, is operational and offers 2,585+ services for individuals. State-wise details of users and digital services are available at https://web.umang.gov.in/landing/services. ● Common Services Centres (CSCs) provide over 800 government and business services digitally, enhancing last-mile service delivery through Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs). As on May 2026, 5.01 lakh CSCs are functional across the country, including 3.91 lakh at the Gram Panchayat level. The State-wise and district- wise details are available on the CSC portal at https://csc.gov.in. Assessments and impact studies conducted: The Government has, from time to time, undertaken assessment and impact studies of e- Governance initiatives under the Digital India Programme through periodic monitoring, stakeholder consultations and independent third-party evaluations. The impact of major schemes is generally evaluated by independent third-party agencies, which is not involved in the implementation of the scheme to ensure fair independent assessment. The third-party evaluation of Electronic Governance scheme was conducted through India Institute of Public administration (IIPA), Delhi in November, 2025. The study has highlighted that the Digital India Programme has significantly transformed citizen service delivery by leveraging technology to improve access to information and integrate government services.It has enhanced transparency, reduced service delivery time, promoted paperless and faceless governance, expanded digital inclusion, and empowered citizens through improved social and economic outcomes. Further, a mid-term impact assessment of Common Services Centres (CSC 2.0) was carried out by the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, while the End-Term Impact Assessment was conducted by the Academy of Management Studies (AMS). The latest assessment reported that 98% of beneficiaries were able to obtain the required services through CSCs, 93% perceived a positive impact on their lives and 95% expressed satisfaction with the services delivered through CSCs. Strengthening Digital Infrastructure and Bridging the Digital Divide: The Government has undertaken several initiatives to bridge the digital divide and strengthen digital infrastructure, particularly in rural and remote areas, by improving broadband connectivity, expanding digital service delivery, promoting digital literacy and enabling access to services in regional languages and citizen awareness, including Andhra Pradesh. These include: ● Expansion of broadband connectivity through BharatNet to Gram Panchayats and rural institutions. As of June 2026, a total of 2.21 lakh Gram Panchayats (GPs) has been made service-ready under the BharatNet Project across the country. ● Telecom, Internet & Broadband Penetration: Total telephone connections in India grew from 93.3 crores in March 2014 to 133+ crores in March, 2026. Internet subscribers jumped from 25.15 crore in March 2014 to 109.27 crore in March, 2026. ● Common Services Centres (CSCs) provide over 800 government and business services digitally, enhancing last-mile service delivery through Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs). As on May 2026, 5.01 lakh CSCs are functional across the country, including 3.91 lakh at the Gram Panchayat level. ● Promotion of digital literacy through the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA). A total of 6.39 crore individuals were trained across the country. The scheme has been concluded on 31.03.2024. ● FutureSkills Prime provides skilling, reskilling, and upskilling in emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Analytics, Internet of Things (IoTs), Cyber Security, Blockchain, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR), etc. Under the programme, so far, more than 34+ lakh candidates have registered on the portal, out of which there have been 23+ lakh candidates enrolled/trained in various courses. ● Under the IndiaAI Mission, the “IndiaAI FutureSkills” pillar focuses on expanding AI literacy and capacity building across diverse segments of society. Initiatives such as the “YUVA AI for All” programme have been introduced to promote AI awareness and foundational literacy among a wide spectrum of learners. The YUVA AI for All course offered by the IndiaAI Mission is available on multiple digital learning platforms including iGOT Karmayogi Bharat, FutureSkills PRIME, DIKSHA, Intellipaat, Khan Academy, Coursera, etc. ● National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) provides digital literacy and skill development courses, including ACC and CCC, through 56 Centres and a network of over 9,000 partner institutes across the country. ● Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA) is the Nation’s One Nation, One Digital platform for providing quality e-content for school education in States/UTs along with QR coded Energised Textbooks (ETBs) for all grades. As aparticipant in DIKSHA, States/UTs have generated and contributed over 3.67 lakh content in local/regional languages enabling multilingualism. Overall, 579.41 crore learning sessions for 2.29 crore users have been completed on DIKSHA by students, teachers and other stakeholders. ● Regular awareness programmes, capacity building and digital literacy campaigns to promote safe and effective use of digital services. ● MyGov: MyGov is a Government of India’s Citizen Engagement Platform which collaborates with multiple Government bodies/ Ministries to engage people in policy formulation and seeks the opinion of people on issues/ topics of public interest and welfare. Presently, over 6.35+ crore citizens are registered with MyGov, participating in various activities hosted on MyGov platform. ● Cyber awareness: Government is implementing a project on ‘Information Security Education and Awareness (ISEA)’ for generating human resources in Information Security and creating general awareness on various aspects of cyber hygiene & cyber security among the masses. So far, 6,650 awareness workshops have been conducted across the country covering 11.37 lakh+ participants, including school/colleges students, teachers, law enforcement, government personnel, and general public. *****Annexure State/UT wise DigiLocker users (Aadhaar enabled registrations) Sl. No. Name of State/UT No of users Departments/ Institutes Registered integrated 1 Andhra Pradesh 19679831 240 2 Arunachal Pradesh 388179 15 3 Assam 10619927 57 4 Bihar 28642947 51 5 Chhattisgarh 6835233 51 6 Goa 579659 23 7 Gujarat 20351432 148 8 Haryana 11004434 100 9 Himachal Pradesh 2790520 44 10 Jharkhand 9294483 49 11 Karnataka 28331890 238 12 Kerala 11552382 125 13 Madhya Pradesh 23206090 140 14 Maharashtra 44616860 354 15 Manipur 832818 19 16 Meghalaya 691888 16 17 Mizoram 283468 16 18 Nagaland 403942 17 19 Odisha 11597137 83 20 Punjab 10108233 55 21 Rajasthan 23473904 138 22 Sikkim 195100 16 23 Tamil Nadu 21847515 160 24 Telangana 9006198 83 25 Tripura 1036703 18 26 Uttar Pradesh 64515375 143 27 Uttarakhand 4195692 65 28 West Bengal 23922554 87 29 Andaman and Nicobar 131075 9 Islands 30 Chandigarh 570513 18 31 The Government of NCT 10289067 149 of Delhi 32 Dadra and Nagar Haveli 199914 6 & Daman and Diu 33 Lakshadweep 19679 4 34 Puducherry 427921 15 35 Jammu & Kashmir 3790394 37 36 Ladakh 39029 10 *****